FHP trooper's DUI arrest of woman under scrutiny

Trooper Melvin Arthur has a reputation of stopping more women than men for DUI, Sarasota defense attorneys say,

By LEE WILLIAMS

Sally Adams locked eyes with Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Melvin J. Arthur around 2:18 a.m. on May 5, of last year, while southbound on the Tamiami Trail.

Arthur slowed down to 15 mph, forcing Adams to pass.

He stopped the petite 52-year-old Michigander just south of Hillview Street. The violation: her tag light was out.

Three hours later, Adams was charged with DUI, though her breath tested far below the legal limit. She was also charged with escape — a felony punishable by 16 years in prison — because Arthur's handcuffs slipped off her thin wrists, she says.

Adams said she believes she was "profiled" by the trooper.

"When we made eye contact, the length of his stare was uncomfortable," she said.

Trooper Arthur, 24, has a reputation among some members of Sarasota County's defense Bar for stopping more women than men.

"I certainly do not have a representative sample, but I can say that I have noticed an unusual number of attractive young women, who were driving alone in their cars, who were arrested by Trooper Arthur," said Sarasota attorney Thomas Hudson. "If there is gender profiling going on, it is wrong. The law should be gender-blind, as well as color blind."

Another Sarasota defense attorney, AnneMarie Rizzo — who has had several clients whom Arthur arrested — has a very different take on the trooper, saying Arthur has always been "by the book."

Arrest statistics raise questions

But Arthur's arrest statistics raise questions.

According to data provided by the Florida Highway Patrol, which consisted of all traffic stops Arthur made in 2012, nearly two-thirds of the drivers he pulled over were female.

Other data obtained by the Herald-Tribune shows that 55 percent of drivers he ticketed were women, as were 62 percent of those that Arthur arrested for DUI in 2012.

The DUI arrests do not include those made after Arthur was dispatched to an accident scene and encountered a drunk driver.

The data stands in stark contrast to arrest trends made by other officers in Sarasota County: they arrest far more men than women. Of the more than 14,000 people booked in the Sarasota County Jail last year, only 25 percent were female and 75 percent were male, according to sheriff's office data.

The same is true for DUI arrests in Sarasota County, where about two-thirds as many men were arrested for drunk driving last year.

According to the sheriff's office there were 728 people charged with DUI last year by all law enforcement agencies. Of these, 489 were men and 239 were women.

Leslie Palmer, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, discounted the defense lawyers' concerns.

"We don't respond to allegations, hearsay or innuendo," Palmer said. "FHP has a formal complaint process. We don't respond to hearsay in the community."

FHP protocol also does not allow Arthur to respond to a request for an interview by the Herald-Tribune for this story.

Palmer noted that Arthur is assigned to a DUI enforcement detail, on the midnight shift. "In terms of targeting female drivers, it would be pretty hard to tell if a male or female is driving," she said.

North Sarasota also is home to several colleges, Palmer said. "There is a 52 percent female demographic in Sarasota County. In that area, there are several universities. It might have a higher percentage of females on the road," she said.

Palmer would not address the overwhelming number of men arrested for DUI by police in Sarasota County. "I can't speak to other law enforcement agencies' arrests," she said.

"When someone has the authority that a badge gives them, with that comes a responsibility that is very vulnerable to abuse," said Mogensen, who was hired to defend Adams against her DUI and escape charges.

FHP managers, Mogensen said, should be concerned.

"Those kind of statistics indicate a real problem," she said. "They need to look at it."

Mogensen said Arthur's stats clearly demonstrate the need for more training.

"An officer's badge gives them power — a real opportunity for abuse," she said. "When you see this type of statistical anomaly, you have to be concerned. It's something you rarely get warning signs about."

Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino teaches a class in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, designed to prevent such patterns. "I'd be happy to be a resources person for this agency to deal with this," DiPino said.

But Rizzo, the other Sarasota defense attorney, is not convinced there is any problem with Arthur's arrest history.

"My dealings with him — I don't think there have been any allegations he's been inappropriate," Rizzo said. "There are some other officers out there that have to be investigated, who are doing inappropriate things on the road."

FHP hired Arthur in 2009. He receives an annual salary of $33,977 and works out of FHP's Venice District.

Disciplinary records provided by FHP show he received an oral reprimand in April 2012 for failing to turn over his tickets to the court clerk. In December, he was counseled for other misconduct: "Employee was alleged to have instigated a vehicular race, failed to report a traffic crash, and not take action on a possible drunk driver."

According to an FHP press release sent last week, Arthur was one of 10 troopers in the state honored for making more than 100 DUI arrests during 2012.

Handcuffs slipped off wrists

Adams stands 5-foot-2 and weighs 105 pounds.

She splits her time between Sarasota and her home in Michigan.

Until she encountered Trooper Arthur, she had never been arrested.

An accomplished artist, several of her paintings are displayed at local galleries.

According to a video of Adams' arrest, the trooper first tried to help her replace the bulb in her tag light, but the screws holding the light assembly were locked tight.

He then put her through a series of field sobriety exercises, which his report indicates she failed.

On the video, however, Adams demonstrates little difficulty with any of the tests. Her diction is clear, and she is very cooperative. She asks several times to take a breath test.

"I knew I wasn't drunk," she said.

But Arthur arrested her, handcuffed her, and placed her in the back of his car, ordering a tow truck for her car.

The video of her in the back seat shows that the handcuffs slipped off, but she kept her hands behind her back.

"I didn't want to get into any trouble," Adams told the Herald-Tribune.

She said she became concerned about the tow bill, and asked to talk to the driver.

When the trooper opened the back door to place a seatbelt on Adams, she pivoted, stepped out of the car, and walked right past the trooper.

What happens next was not caught on camera.

Adams said she was perplexed about what to do with the handcuffs, which she was holding, so she placed them at the trooper's feet and turned to talk to the tow truck driver.

Arthur counters that Adams began running, toward the front of his car.

The trooper can be heard screaming, calling for back up and yelling at Adams to "stop resisting."

His report indicates he performed a "leg sweep," knocking Adams to the ground. He then laid on top of her and pinned her to the ground until his backup arrived.

Adams denies trying to run. She said she only wanted to talk to the tow driver about where to take her car, until the trooper hit her. Her face and body were bruised by the takedown.

"I put her f------ ass in the dirt," Arthur told other officers after they arrived — a comment caught on the recording of the incident.

Two breath tests conducted later at the county jail indicated Adam's blood alcohol was .034 and .036 — well under the .08 DUI threshold.

Assistant State Attorney Shannon Hankin is prosecuting the case, which is pending.

Hankin said there are two ways to prove DUI in court, a breath test and impairment.

"We look at both factors and consider the defendant's behavior — whether it indicated impairment," Hankin said. "One option is the breath test. The other is whether their normal faculties were impaired."